Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Cheap days out: Bank Holiday on a budget
Chiara Cavaglieri
30th Apr 2013
Whatever the weather this Easter Bank Holiday, there are still lots of ways you can have fun on the cheap. We’ve found you a host of ways for you and the family to spend the weekend without delving too deep into your pocket – in fact some of them won’t cost you a penny!
- Entertainment on the cheap
- Get out and about
- MoneyMagpie top tips for cutting costs on Bank Holiday activities
Entertainment on the cheap
Spend Tesco Clubcard points on theme park tickets and save a packet. In many cases you’ll get four times the value of your Clubcard points i.e. £5 of vouchers gives you £20 to put towards theme park tickets! All major theme parks are taking part.
If you’ve got a Nectar card you could be saving too – from 23rd July – 12 August points are worth double, triple or more! For every 500 points you have you can get £5 off attractions such as the Sea Life Centre and the London Dungeons as well as restaurants such as Pizza Express. At Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventure your points will be worth four times more, meaning you save £10!
A Bank Holiday treat for Mum and Dad
If you’re lucky enough to have a babysitter for the weekend why not whisk your partner away for a spa day of pampering and relaxing? Bliss! Don’t spend a fortune, check out the top spa deals from Lastminute.com instead! Spafinder is another perfect site for finding some spa treats for less.
If you really want to treat yourself, why not splash out on a luxury hotel? Make sure you save 45% through Lastminute.com’s top secret hotels promotions. The idea behind all the secrecy with these deals is that top class hotels can fill their rooms without having to reveal to their regular patrons that they’re willing to drop their rates, so you can actually secure yourself a stay in a gorgeous hotel for a fraction of the price.
If this isn’t up your street check out the other hotel deals offered by Lastminute – where you can save on hotels all over the UK and European cities such as Prague and Rome.
Dinner and a show for under £20
Enjoy a two-course meal and a top West End show for as little as £25 per person with Lastminute.com. Even world-class production Mamma Mia! can be seen for as little as £26 per person, and they’ve even included a meal in the price. Go to Lastminute.com now.
Bank Holiday in London
Why not visit the capital this Bank Holiday? There’s plenty to see and do – just because you’re British, you can still do the tourist thing! You can get a cheap train ticket if you book in advance through websites such as thetraineline.com (which has a best fare finder). Have a look at our full article on how to get cut-price train tickets.
Londoners can find free events in the capital here and remember to check your local council’s website for links to things going on in your area.
Free theatre
Enjoy free outdoor theatre at The Scoop amphitheatre in London’s South Bank from 1 May until the end of summer.
Join the free festivities
For the late summer bank holiday, join the Notting Hill Carnival which runs from 24 – 25 August. With delicious Caribbean food, dancing, music, shows and more, it’s little wonder Notting Hill Carnival is highly regarded as the best event in London.
Also over the August bank holiday weekend Wimbledon Park with be holding its first ‘Fantastic British Food Festival’, where the park will be home to a wide range of food and drink producers and there will be cookery demonstrations, children’s cookery workshops and talks from food and drink experts.
If you’re based in Wales then there are some fun events going on. There is the Cardiff Harbour Festival in the heart of Cardiff Bay. International teams with the best professional sailors will race it out for your entertainment and it’s free to watch. For something a little more random then you could check out the World Bog Snorkelling Championship held in Llanwrtyd Wells and with participants coming from all over the world, this is truly an (admittedly bizarre) international event.
Get out and about
If you’re travelling with the family, get a Family and Friends Railcard – it’ll save you a whole heap of money. It costs £30 for one year and saves you 1/3 on adult fares and 60% on kids’ fares. Up to four adults and four kids can travel on just one card.
Have an historical day out
There are hundreds of days out to be had with the National Trust. Most people live within 40 minutes of one of their attractions and lots of them are free – find out what’s local to you by entering your postcode on their website. You can also make the most of the weekend by going to one of their special Bank Holiday events.
Moneymagpie top tips for a budget Bank Holiday
If you’re going away…
Maybe try looking for short haul flights on Kayak; the more common search engines like Opodo and Expedia will be able to come up with good fares for long haul flights.
Also, try buying your holiday through cashback sites such as Quidco, Rpoints and Giveortake.com. These are some of the main cashback sites; it’s worth having a look at all of them as they have partnerships with different companies. If you don’t know how cashback sites work, have a look at our cashback sites article.
Grab yourself a meal deal
There’s nothing better than topping off a lazy Bank Holiday weekend with a relaxed meal with family or friends. But you don’t need to splash out that much – have a look at our latest restaurant discounts.
Use your Tesco Clubcard points online
Make the most of your Tesco loyalty points by spending them on fun days out with the family this bank holiday and half-term. However, make sure you spend your points online for better value – Tesco Clubcard points are worth four times more when you spend them – rather than in store. So for every £2.50 worth of vouchers you can spend £10 worth of deals tokens. These tokens can then be spent on fun days out, Avios, restaurants and activity days.
Find cheap cinema tickets for kids
Take advantage of the holiday offers at your local cinema. Odeon Kids runs throughout most of the holidays every morning and a kids ticket costs just £2.50. Vue Kids AM screenings will also run every morning in the holidays. Tickets cost from just £1.75 for a 2D screening and from £3 for a 3D screening for both children and adults. Cineworld also has a ‘Movies for Juniors’ promotion offering adult and children’s tickets for £1.50 (£3 for 3D) on weekend and school holiday mornings – they get snapped up pretty quickly so it’s a good idea to book in advance.
There are tons of things to do for allowing the whole family to enjoy it on a low budget.